HELP.....I Want to play High Def DVDs But Lots of questions?? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Harrison]

3 years ago I purchased a Toshiba 51h83 Rear Projection TV. The picture in HD is GREAT and I LOVE IT. It has 540P and 1080i capability. I have HD cable and I currently play standard DVDs on a Pioneer DV-563 player using component cable using the 540P option.

I want to purchase and play some High Definition DVDs. ( Casino Royale will be #1).
My TV has a DVI / HCCP input but I do not know what DVD player will give me the highest quality Image. Do I use the DVI connection for audio?

I also have a collection of about 400 standard format DVD's that I want to continue to be able to view. Will I need to keep the Pioneer player to watch these?

Please let me know what you recommend. Would I get an appreciably better picture from a new TV?

I would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has seen this TV with HD DVD and has an opinion of the quality. Thanks for your help.

 

[Neal_C]

Hi Mark,

If you like the HD picture on your current set then I wouldn't bother with getting a new one unless you just have the itch to do so right now. If you do, by all means go for it, but it isn't necessary.

If Casino Royale in High Def. is your first movie of choice, then you will need to invest in a Blu-Ray player. Sony pictures is the studio behind the movie, therefore this movie will only be available in HD on Blu-Ray. Hook it up via component in 1080i and enjoy.

The next gen dvd players (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) will all play your regular DVD discs as well.

 

[RAF]

DVI will only pass video while HDMI handles both video and audio. Audio must be handled via the normal audio connections (optical, etc.). If the player has an HDMI output jack (highly likely) then an HDMI/DVI cable works fine with the video end of things. You just need to connect the audio in the usual fashion if using DVI anywhere in the chain.

 

[Andrew Chong]

Hope you don't mind my piggybacking a small question on this thread.

I've always wondered: Will I be able to play my dvd-audio discs on a high definition player? And, a logical related question, can some of these players play sacds?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Neal_C]

I believe the Panasonic Blu-Ray player will play DVD-audio. I don't think any players (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) will do SACD.

 

[Shawn Perron]

The PS3 will play DVDs, Blu-Rays, CDs and SACDs. It does not play DVD-Audio though.

 

[RAF]

A very good question and one that opens up a lot of other areas for discussion. I can only speak for my Toshiba XA-1 (1st generation HD-DVD) and my Sony PS3 but others might comment on their particular players.

First of all let me mention that I use my Denon 2930ci DVD player connected via a proprietary digital link to my Denon 3806 receiver (used as a pre-pro) for all my SACD and DVD-A needs. This is, for me, the best way to listen to this media since it completely avoids and D/A and A/D conversions required by using 5.1 analog jacks to access the multichannel sound on these audio discs. However, my manuals for the PS3 and the XA-1 list the following information. The PS3, as expected, will play SACDs (because Sony invented SACD) and completely ignores DVD-A. My Toshiba XA-1 manual doesn't mention anything at all about either SACD or DVD-A so I assume that it won't play them.

I don't know if other Blu-ray players play SACD but I can tell you, from personal experience, that the PS3 absolutely does. In fact when the SACD disc has both 2 channel and 5.1 multichannel tracks the PS3 menu gives you a choice of playback. This brings up something else that I'm going to have to research further because it could have a significant impact on my further equipment purchases. I've only connected the PS3 to my pre-pro via HDMI (since I'm completely out of jacks because of the large number of components in my system). Surprisingly (to me) the PS3 outputs SACD audio just fine. Since HDMI is a digital format that would mean that the output is digital, right? (unless I'm missing something here.) In the past SACD and DVD-A output was limited to analog for copy protection reasons and very few proprietary exceptions were allowed (like the aforementioned DenonLinkIII). I assume that because HDMI is HDCP compliant that copy protection becomes a non-issue. If that's the case, will there ever be (or do they now exist?) DVD players capable of outputting SACD and DVD-A audio via HDMI/HDCP? If that's the case I'm not limited to Denon products in the future if I want to maintain the digital pathway from SACD/DVD-A audio disc to the pre-pro. Incidentally, I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with Denon products at all (or I wouldn't be using them) but there are a lot of other manufacturers out there who offer excellent equipment that might have some specs or features that I might prefer. In other words, this would greatly expand future options for me.

So the answer to your question is yes, some players handle SACD media and quite possibly some others will play DVD-A. But you must do your homework in this area since a lot of HD players don't play either. Maybe 2nd generation players address this issue. I'm just not there yet.

And the answer to my questions about SACD and DVD-A over HDMI? Can anyone clarify any of this?

Thanks.

 

[Harminder]

IMO, you do not need a new TV at the moment.

Since Casino Royale is your first HD movie of choice, you will need to invest in a Blu-Ray player since that movie is distributed by Sony Pictures and Sony movies are exclusively Blu-Ray. Since you have a DVI connection, you can get an HDMI to DVI cable so you can upconvert your SD DVD's to near HD.

If you want to get full uncompressed lossless audio, you can hook up your player (only from a standalone player like the Sony or Panasonic, not from PS3) the 5.1 analog outputs (or 7.1 via the Panasonic Blu-Ray player) to your receiver.

Hope that helps, let us know what you decide!